Examines Soviet fears of U.S.-Chinese collusion against the USSR, and then considers the merits of the kind of military and intelligence cooperation that Moscow alleges has already begun. Memories of the American 1949 aid to a Yugoslavia threatened with Soviet invasion could affect Soviet perceptions today. Peking has long feared a surprise attack and has called for Brezhnev's overthrow, likening him to Hitler. China might wish U.S. military ties (1) to improve its forces, (2) to give Moscow the impression that the Americans would help China resist attack, (3) to generate Soviet-American friction, or (4) simply as part of an ongoing program to acquire all available foreign technology. The most advantageous policy for the United States might be to permit private export licenses for sales to China of defensive or passive military items, such as reconnaissance systems and over-the-horizon radar, which would be stabilizing rather than destabilizing. In addition, a Sino-American "hot line" would allow timely, imaginative crisis diplomacy to damp down Sino-Soviet hostilities. (Presented at the Air University, Maxwell AFB, Montgomery, Alabama, in September 1974.)., Since 1970 at least two schools of thought have emerged in Moscow about the implications for the USSR of America's new policy toward China. One is relatively sanguine; the other, quite apprehensive. By examining these Soviet viewpoints, we may gain additional insight into the future of American China policy. Some Soviets apparently do not object to the recent improvements in Sino-American relations in part because it seems impossible to them that Peking and Washington will ever achieve any substantial degree of political rapprochment, let alone any anti-Soviet cooperation. Some Americans may share this view. The second Soviet school, however, seems deeply troubled by the general trend toward Sino-American friendship evident since 1971. Soviet authors have explicitly warned the American government that to become too friendly with Peking may well endanger Soviet-American detente. This Soviet view may also have an American counterpart. For example, in 1973 a New York Times column assessing Sino-American relations contained the comment, 'In essence, a political foundation has been laid for a possible future Chinese-U.S. alliance against the USSR.